Movie Reviews

"In this movie Ken Shamrock was the best! I hope soon he can make his return to WWF to show off all the wonderful acting he can do, not to mention fighting too."

Hey, you could do worse...

09/01/1999

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I saw it on the shelf at Blockbuster, and being a fan of Ken Shamrock, I figured it's worth my $3 for grins.The director has a charming knack for filling the lulls in action with images of nudity. In fact, of the entire female cast, I can think of only one woman who did not bare her breats at some point in the movie. (Brito's headset-wearing assistant)Plus you get to see Shamrock one-handing an M-16 and using a hand grenade to open a padlock. What could be finer?Two stars because the movie didn't totally suck."

Average B-Grade movie

markrob0 | australia wa perth | 09/08/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"For all you martial arts movie fans, this movie isn't too bad but of course it isn't made to take too seriously either. Louis Mandylor usually does an ok job as an actor or martial artist and Danny Trejo is generally liked as a villian or even sometimes as a good guy because he has a certain charisma about him. However, Ken's fight scenes could've been chereographed better so it was a bit of a let down knowing that it was Ken's first and only movie so far when he could've done so much better with the on screen fight scenes.

The acting is ok but as usual in a B-Grade martial arts movie, there is no serious acting involved. Louis Mandylor's fight scenes make him look like a try-hard Bruce Lee. Danny Trejo doesn't have a fight scene in this movie but is probably the most serious actor in the whole film. The storyline is good but has been done to death. I'll give this 3 stars because Champion's was watchable considering the budget on this movie."

Nothing special

dominion_ruler | Carolina, USA | 04/24/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Champions is one of the most sick martial art movies I have seen, and full of hype in many ways. The film is made with some decent looking quailty to the eye, and there are a lot of good looking fighters. Unfortunately, the fights stink and the good guy and morals seem to be buried throughout the film, with so much sickness revolved around the bad guy, Max (Danny Trejo) who is in charge of the underground illegal fights. This is nothing new to the world of martial art movies, and I don't mind seeing a twisted villain, but everthing unmoral seems to revolve around this guy, and it gets a little annoying along with his stupid laughs.

The story is nothing more than good guy Will Rockman (Louis Mandylor) getting lured back into the world of fighting due to the death of his brother in the ring, to a muscle powerhouse named The King (Ken Shamrock) who is heavily under the influence of Max. The rest of the movie seems to revolve around Max and all his illegal glory, twistedness, and sickness. Lots of language and pointless nudity. Even the so called love scenes only appear to happen just to show some skin.

The fights are full of hype in this movie too. The cage scenes with spectators look great, and there are a lot of heavy cut fighters. It all gets you psyched up for a big let down. Most of the fights are either too short or unimaginative. The final fight between Rockman and the King was a joke - they literally were just rolling around on the floor. Then there is the one fighter from "The Bible belt" who screams hallelujia while killing his opponent. Some may find that offensive, as did I.

I hate to get personal with these movies, after all, they are just movies. But occasionaly, lines must be drawn. Champions is not the worst movie ever made, and it does have some good qualities such as Ken Shamrock and a decent actor in Mandylor. But be prepared for more focus on people who dwell in bad morals and get off on it."

Saw it on TV, And then I ordered It.

dominion_ruler | 07/28/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I saw this on cable, and liked it. I am a WWF fan, and watched it because of Shamrock. Anyone who likes tournament-style fighting should check this out."